This invention relates generally to bulk bag-filling equipment and more particularly to an improvement to my bag or box filling apparatus disclosed by my U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,676,284 and 5,036,894 and incorporated herein in their entirety by reference. The improvement incorporates a traversing filler spout that permits easy removal and attachment of bulk bags, or box filler neck, by an operator standing adjacent to the bag filling apparatus.
Large container bags are currently used for transporting dry bulk materials. Such bags are constructed of reinforced, flexible polymeric materials supported by integral lifting straps and fitted with a filler neck. Bags range in size between 20 and 70 cubic feet and may also be contained in boxes for easy of stacking and transport.
Bag filling apparatus are generally designed in a manner whereby the large bags are suspended from the filling equipment by lifting straps connected to latch bars in a releasable manner with the bag""s filler neck connected to the station""s filling spout. The bags are usually lowered periodically onto a platform having apparatus for weighing the contents of the bag and vibrating the material therein-eliminating air pockets to insure densification. When the bulk bags are contained in boxes lifting the bags becomes unnecessary. However, connecting the bag""s filler neck to the spout remains an awkward task for the operator.
Various methods have been devised to assist the station operator in connecting the bag""s lifting straps and/or filler neck to the machine""s filer spout in a manner whereby the neck is secured to the filler spout and the bag is held suspended in a fully extended position from the latch bars or in their corrugated boxes ready for filling.
As a result of the weighing and vibrating platform being located directly below the bag or box, the operator finds it very difficult to properly secure the straps and filler neck without stepping on the weighing and vibration platform. In some cases the filling station is also not accessible from either side due to conveying equipment or other machines or the filling apparatus may be located above floor level. Therefore, prior art systems have been disclosed which allow the rear most strap latch bars to move forward towards the operator for loading. However, since the station""s filler spout is generally fixed, making up the filler neck connection still places the operator in a strain by requiring the operator to access the filler neck connection from outside the filling station apparatus with the bag in the fully extended position placing the neck central to the loading platform. It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus which allows the operator to have full access to the strap latches and filler neck while standing outside the perimeter of the filling apparatus prior to placing the bag in a suspended or fully extended position.
A bulk bag-filling machine with a traversing strap latching and traversing filler spout mechanisms. The strap latch mechanisms and the filler spout may be moved independently or in sequence forwardly towards the front or forward most edge of the filling station, thereby permitting the operator of the filling apparatus to easily and safely suspend the heavy bulk bag""s strap loops on the four strap latches and make the filler neck connection to the filling spout prior to traversing the strap latches and filler neck to their rearmost position, thereby positioning the bag for filling.